The Voice is a reality television singing competition franchise. It is based on the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland, which was originally created by Dutch television producer John de Mol. Many other countries have adapted the format and began airing their own versions since 2011. It has become a rival to the Idols franchise, and The X Factor.

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History[edit]

John de Mol, creator of Big Brother, first created The Voice concept with Dutch singer Roel van Velzen. The show distinguishes itself as different from The X Factor and Idols as The Voice primarily focuses on singing ability and prowess of an artist alone.

Format[edit]

Contestants are aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. The show's format features four stages of competition. The first is the blind auditions, in which the four coaches, all noteworthy recording artists, listen to the contestants in chairs facing opposite the stage so as to avoid seeing them. If a coach likes what they hear from that contestant, they press a button to rotate their chairs to signify that they are interested in working with that contestant. If more than one coach presses their button, the contestant chooses the coach he or she wants to work with. The blind auditions end when each coach has a set number of contestants to work with. Coaches will dedicate themselves to developing their singers mentally, musically and in some cases physically, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success.

The contestants who successfully pass the blind auditions proceed to the battle rounds, where the coaches put two of their own team members against each other to sing the same song together in front of a studio audience. After the vocal face-off, the coach must choose only one to advance. If no specific winner can be identified the competition turns to a game of fate via a coin toss. In some versions, there are steals where opposing coaches can steal a contestant who was voted off by their own coach by pressing their button. As in the blind auditions, if more than one coach presses their button, the contestant chooses which coach they want. Each coach has a set number of steals (usually one or two).

In some versions, the winners of the battle rounds proceed to the knockout rounds. As in the battle rounds, coaches pit two of their own team members to compete against each other. This time, the contestants choose their own song to perform individually while the other watches and waits. After that, the coach chooses one to advance while the other is sent home. At the end of the knockout rounds, the strongest members of each coach's roster proceed to the live stage shows. In this final performance phase of the competition, the top contestants from each team compete against each other during a live broadcast. The television audience vote to save one contestant on each team, leaving the coach to decide on live television who they want to save and who will not move on. In the next round, the public chooses between the two artists left on each team, and the coach also has a vote that weighs equally with the public vote.

Finally, each coach will have his/her best contestant left standing to compete in the finals, singing an original song. From these four, one will be named "The Voice"—and will receive the grand prize of a recording contract.

In some versions, all contestants perform each week and only the public's vote determines which contestants advance in the competition, a format similar to both Idol and The X Factor. This means that any contestant can be eliminated and no coach is guaranteed a spot in the finals.

One of the cornerstones of The Voice format is the social media participation via Twitter, Facebook and the especially designed platform "connect." Users are able to log in via their Facebook account and retrieve background information about the show. The platform also offers the possibility to stream the show online as well as to vote, interact with friends and to discuss various topics and questions asked by the producers throughout the show.[4]

Versions[edit]

Location of The Voice versions:

With own version of The Voice

With own versions of The Voice and The Voice Kids

Part of a regional or multinational version of The Voice

Part of a regional or multinational versions of The Voice and The Voice Kids

Since the inception of The Voice, the franchise had produced 113 winners. The recents winner are from The Voice of Holland, O'G3NE and La Voz Peru, Ruby Palomino. With The Voice Kids, the franchise had produced 21 winners. The recent winner is from the Australian version, Alexa and the last winner of the Kids version is Ivanna Garcia in the Colombian one.

^The Voice of Albania is also broadcast in Kosovo and Macedonia. People from Kosovo were also allowed to join the show.

^The Voice of China is also broadcast in Malaysia and Singapore since 2014. People from Malaysia and Singapore who can speak Mandarin were also allowed to join the show starting from season 3.[29]

^The Voice of Greece is also broadcast in Cyprus; Cypriots were also allowed to join the show.

^A Voz de Angola will also be broadcast in Mozambique; People from Mozambique were also allowed to join the show.[8]

^ In the Australian version of The Voice, Joel Madden served as a solo coach from seasons 1 to 3. In the fourth season of the said franchise, he was joined by his brother, Benji Madden, and became as a duo coach.